Emberá people
[3] In the late 1700s, the Emberá began migrating from the Choco region to modern-day Colombia to what is currently the Darién province of Panama, which had been home to the Tule or Kuna people at the time of European contact.The Darién has subsequently become recognized as the homelands of the Emberá in Panama, though they had also settled as far west as Lake Gatún and the riverine areas of what would become the Canal Zone.During the 19th century, during which it was part of the Gran Republica de Colombia, the Darién was inhabited almost exclusively by the indigenous Emberá and Guna peoples along with the descendants of escaped African slaves, known as darienitas or libres.This period observed the influence of missionaries and the involvement of the revolutionary government of Omar Torrijos, who actively sought to integrate the indigenous population of Darién into Panamanian society by encouraging them to settle into communities for access to government-sponsored services such as schools and health centers.This initiated the transition of the Emberá people, who until that time had lived dispersed in small family units throughout the rainforest, into settled communities.Farmers from the interior of the country, often called interioranos, began to migrate into the Darién in large numbers, effecting demographic shifts and an unprecedented scale of logging and deforestation for the purpose of establishing cattle ranches.The designated autonomous region, the Comarca Emberá-Wounaan, is split up into two territories surrounding two of the Darién's major river systems, the Sambú and Chucunaque.The craft of constructing dugout canoes (hampá) was historically a very significant skill for Emberá men, at times serving as a rite of passage or prerequisite for marriage according to oral history.[citation needed] Ethnographic records detail the ways in which boats take on an anthropomorphic character in the Emberá language and philosophy, and traditionally people were even buried in canoes.in November 1983, the National Assembly of Panama ratified the ley 22, establishing the Comarca Emberá-Wounaan, a territory of 4383.5 km2 encompassing two non-contiguous districts, Sambú and Cemaco, whose capital is the town of Unión Chocó.
Embera languageComarca EmberáChitréColombiaPanamaNorthern EmberáEmberá-CatíoEmberá-ChamíEmberá-BaudóEperaraSpanishEvangelicismWounaanIndigenous peopleEmberá languagesWounmeuChocó language familyCentralArawakChibchanPanama's education ministry (MEDUCA)New TestamentOld TestamentChocó departmentChocóDariénKuna peopleComarca Guna YalaSan Blas IslandsLake GatúnCanal Zoneescaped African slavesdarienitasLa PalmaYavizaGarachinePanama seceded from the Republic of ColombiaOmar TorrijosDarién provincePan-American highwayfemale genital mutilationComarca Emberá-WounaanSambúChucunaqueQuibdóSabal mauritiiformisGuna peoplecomarca indigenaNational Assembly of Panamanon-contiguousUnión Chocócollective land titleprotection of their landIndigenous peoples of PanamaIndigenous peoples of ColombiaEmbera languagesIndigenous peoples of the AmericasPaleo-IndiansPre-Columbian eraClassificationArchaeologyGeneticsSolutrean hypothesisMythologiesList of deitiesReligionsHuman sacrificeArborglyphFifth WorldGreat SpiritMedicine manMedicine wheelThe red roadTotem poleTurtle IslandCosmovisionCreationReligionWorld treeMapucheMuiscaCultureEcuadorVisual artsPaintingArtistsWritersEuropean colonizationPopulation historyColumbian exchangeCanadaCosta RicaDominicaEl SalvadorGreenlandGuatemalaHondurasJamaicaMexicoNicaraguaTrinidad and TobagoUnited StatesSouth AmericaArgentinaBoliviaBrazilGuyanaParaguaySurinameUruguayVenezuelaEthnobotanyCherokeeIroquoisNavajoIdentityLanguagesMovementsPhilosophyStudiesDeerskinIn popular cultureIndigenous peoplescontinentAfricaOceania